The Blind Pig
The Blind Pig was a wizarding speakeasy and jazz club that operated during the 1920s in New York."Ron Perlman talks 'Sons of Anarchy,' 'Fantastic Beasts' at RI Comic Con" from The Telegram"Everything we've learned about ‘Fantastic Beasts' this week" from "Announcement Trailer for 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' to Be Unveiled Worldwide on December 15th" from Business Wire"‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’: 43 Things to Know about the New Wizarding World Story" from Collider Located at 124 Macdougal Street, its entrance was magically disguised by an enchanted advertisement. Atmosphere Accessed via an enchanted poster in a seedy New York back alley, The Blind Pig is an underground bar and hangout for down-and-outs of the American wizarding world. Here amongst the smoke and grime, patrons will likely see dodgy dealings, goblin jazz singers and house-elves serving gigglewater. History The Bling Pig was owned by a goblin gangster, Gnarlak. The pub also had a goblin band that played jazz. The band features a lot of different instruments that needed to be played but only four goblins to play them all so, out of practical necessity, the overworked goblin that acted as the brass section became a multi-instrumentalist. A singer was also added and the quartet of players became a trio. The establishment was apparently frequented by prostitutes and criminals.Laura Matassa's profile on StarNowLaura Matassa's profile on The Stage Castings (archived via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine here) A giant was also a known visitor to the Blind Pig in 1926. Newt Scamander visited The Blind Pig while looking for information about the trouble befalling New York in 1926 and spoke with the owner Gnarlak in person. Drinks * Gigglewater * Lobe-Blaster Behind the scenes *"Blind pig" is an old American slang term for a speakeasy."blind pig" on Wiktionary The term derives from a practise that certain speakeasy operators used to circumvent prohibition, whereby they would charge customers an admission fee to view a curiosity (typically an animal), then serve them a complementary alcoholic beverage."What Is A Blind Pig?" from The Blind Pig This practise allowed them to serve alcohol while technically obeying the ban on its sale. *Alcohol remained legal under the wizarding government of the United States during the period that the country's No-Maj government enforced prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s."History of Magic in America: 1920s Wizarding America" from This raises the question of how a wizarding pub like The Blind Pig could be considered a "speakeasy" when alcohol was legal. Critics of the MACUSA's policy on alcohol argued that its legality made wizards and witches stand out in crowded cities where the majority of the population were No-Majs living under prohibition. Thus, it's possible that wizarding saloons could be considered "speakeasies" in the sense that they had to operate clandestinely, so as not to attract the attention of No-Maj authorities and reveal the existence of the wizarding world. It's also possible that some wizarding pubs were unlicensed because they were run and/or frequented by criminals. The Blind Pig, being run by a gangster and apparently frequented by prostitutes, would seem to fit this bill. *On a non-magical note: the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa has a place that, in student parlance, is called "The Blind Pig". This place is the Postgraduate (PG) Club; the nickname comes from the fact that "there is no "I" in Postgraduate!" Appearances * * * Notes and references de:Zum Blinden Schwein fr:Le Cochon Aveugle pl:Lokal pod Ślepym Wieprzem ru:Слепая свинья Category:New York Category:Pubs